Detachable shoe heel



A. J. BERUBE.

DETACHABLE SHOE HEEL. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 2, 1921.

335,797, Patented Nov. 14, 1922.

A 3mm maz eagaz ll ll! #32 5. J. 5 erwe.

Patented Nov. 14, 1922.

UNITED STATES ALFRED J. BERUBE, OF LYNDONVILLE, VERMONT.

DETACI-IABLE SHOE HEEL.

Application filed March 2, 1921.

To all whom it may concern:

'Be it known that I, ALFRED J. BERUBE, cit-izen of the United States, residing at Lynspecification.

This invention relates to an improved detachable rubber heel for shoes and'has as one of its principal objects to provide a heel of this character embodying separable attaching means therefor whereby said heel may be firmly connected with a shoe as well as readily removed therefrom, while, at the same time, driving of nails or similar securing elements will be eliminated.

The invention has as a further object to provide a heel of this character wherein the attaching means will be permanently secured to the shoe and wherein the heel will be formed to coact with said means to be removably carried thereby in position upon the shoe.

' And the invention has as a still further object to provide-a heel of this character whereby when a pair thereof begin to wear at the. sides, the heels may be easily and 1 quickly interchanged and, when worn out,

may be discarded and new ones substituted.

Other and incidental objects will appear hereinafter. V

, In the drawing: j

Figure l is a perspective view illustrating my improved heel in connection with an ordinary shoe, the heel body being shown removed from. its attaching. means in order to disclose the disposition of said means upon the shoe,

Figure 2 is a perspective view of the blank from which the attaching means is formed,

Figure 3 is a perspective view illustrating the attaching means in detail,

Figure 4: is a cross section illustrating the heel connected with the attaching means in position upon the shoe, and,

Figure 5 is a top plan view of the heel body.

In carrying the invention into efiect, I employ a heel body 10 formed 1n its upper side with a medial longitudinal slot 11 having beveled side walls, said slot openlng through the breast of the heel body and terminating at its rear end near the rear edge of the heel body. Also formed in the heel body below the slot 11 and communicating there- Serial No. 448,956.

with, is a transverse recess 12 extending be- ,yond the sides of said slot. This recess also opens through the breast of the heel body and partakes of the general outline defined by the dotted line showing in Figures 1 and 5 of the drawing. As will inverted substantially T-shaped channel is thus defined in the heel body adapted to snugly but removably receive the attaching means or plate employed for detachably securing the heel body upon a shoe, andwhich means will now be described in detail.

The attaching means referredto is preferably formed from a thin resilient sheet metal blank of the generaloutline disclosed in Figure 2. This blank is formed with pairs of spaced transverse incisions or slits A of equal length, the slits of each pair terminating opposite each other at either side of a medial line through the blank and dividin said blank into front and rear portions and C respectively and a smaller intermediate portion D connecting the sections A and B and having free end portions. As will be noted, the front and rear portions 13 and C of the blank are substantially the same in extent and outline,,the portion A, however, having a medial forwardly projecting tongue 18, the sides of which flare outwardly from the base thereof. Further, it will be noted. that the free ends of'the intermediate portion D terminate short of the side edges of the portions Band C. Informing up the blank to produce the attaching means or plate, the portions B and Care, as clearly illustrated in Figure 3, bent along parallel fold lines to provide a medial rib 1 f extending from end to end of the plate. The rib 14 is formed with sloping side walls and a flat top wall, the rib being wider at its base than at its top, and disposed on the forward edge of the top wall of the rib is the tongue 13. This tongue is bent to overlie the open outer end of the channel defined within the rib and provides a forward end wall for said channel. In this connection it will be observed that the base of said tongue is of a width equal to the width of the top wall and that the flared side edges of the tongue correspond to the slope of the side walls of the rib so that the outer end of the channel is completely and at the same time neatly covered by the tongue. The ends of the or-" tions B and C are bent at substantially rightangles to the side walls of the rib 1-2 to provide pairs of heel engaging flanges l7 havbe perceived, an

ing rounded outer corners. The forward pair ofsaid flanges is provided with downwardly struck forwardly projecting spurs 18. The ends of the intermediate portion D of the blank are left straight to project laterally at each side of the rib to provide attachin tabs 20 lying in the plane of the top wall 0' the rib and terminating substantially flush with the side edges of the flanges 17.

In Figure 1 of the drawing, I have shown my device in connection with an ordinary shoe 21. In applying the heel of the present invention one or more of the original heel lifts of the shoe are first removed and the ward pair of flanges 17 lying substantially flush with the forward edge of the lift 22. To removably connect the heel body 10 to the shoe, said body is forced upon the plate from the rear end thereof, this movement being continued until the breast of the heel body lies flush with the forward edge of the lift.

In this position the rib 1 1 will be snugly engaged in the slot 11 of the heel body, the beveled side walls of said slot frictionally c'oacting with the sloping walls of the rib. Further, the flanges 17 will be snugly received within the transverse recess 12 to frictionally coact with the walls thereof for holding the heel body firmly in position upon the shoe. However, to prevent accidental rearward displacement of the heel bodythe forwardly and downwardly projecting spurs 18 in the forward pair of flanges 17 are provided, said'spurs digging into the material of the heel body for preventing such displacement, while forward displacement is, of course, prevented by reason of the fact that the rear edges of the side walls of the rib 14 as well as the rear edges of the rear pair of flanges 17 abut the rear ends of the slot 11 and recess 12 respectively. To insure a close joint between the heel body and the lift 22, the top wall of the rib as well as the securing tabs 20, are preferably countersunk in the lift while the tongue 13, overlying the outer end of the channel of the rib, as previously described, will provide a smooth and continuous sur face at the breast of the heel as well as prevent dirt and other foreign matter from working into said channel. To remove the heel body it is merely necessary to exert a sharp rearward pull thereon. Consequently, it will be obvious that when the heels of a pair of shoes become worn unevenly from constant use, they may be readily interchanged, or discarded entirely and new ones substituted. I accordingly provide a highly practical and advantageous type of detachable shoe heel and one which may be firmly securediin position without thefuse of nails or similar securing elements.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed asnew is:

A device of the'character described including a plate bent to define a medial upstanding rib for attachment to a shoe heel and provided with flanges at opposite sides thereof offset with respect to the top face of said rib to extend in'spaced relation to the heel, opposite margins of the plate being slit to provide tabs extending in the plane of the top wall of the rib at opposite sides thereof and secured to the heel for holding the plate against lateral rocking movement upon the heel, and a heel body carried by the plate and having the material thereof formedwith a channel at the upper face of the heel body to accommodate said rib and flanges, the top wall of the rib being extended at the forward end thereof to provide a tongue closing the rib at its forward end whereby to prevent clogging of said channel through the rib.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

' ALFRED J. BERUBE. [La] 

